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* ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'':
** The manga and anime have this in spades, diamonds, clubs, and [[HurricaneOfPuns especially hearts]] between Keiichi and Belldandy. They're not only the OfficialCouple, they practically live like a married couple, look like one to everyone else whenever they leave home, they have several [[ShipperOnDeck 'shippers on deck]], and it's obvious to viewers/readers they want a RelationshipUpgrade. Then why hasn't their relationship moved past kindergarten-level? Not only is Keiichi extremely shy, a law against physical relationships between goddesses and mortals puts a lock on some of his more physical urges. Also Belldandy has stated that she is not ready to fulfill his desires; not to mention she appears to be oblivious to all things sexual. Still, with all the heartwarming moments they've shared, resolving the tension seems like a ForegoneConclusion.\\\
To illustrate her oblivious nature, when they were standing in front of a love motel in the rain and Keiichi was wondering whether to go in with her, Belldandy grabbed his hand, appearing to give him a signal that she was ready, turns out she just wanted to know if she should make the rain stop and was totally unaware of the love motel. And the only thing Keichii could bring himself to do when they went inside was ask the desk clerk if they could borrow an umbrella.
** There's also Peorth, Belldandy's [[TheRival rival in the wish-granting biz]], who's ''also'' in love with Keiichi. [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Fortunately, she puts her UST to good use]]: Because romantic (both literal and as a euphemism) wishes are her specialty, [[ShipperOnDeck she makes efforts to bring Keiichi and Belldandy together]].
* The manhwa ''Annoying Alice'' has what should be a couple but for Aiden's complete denial that anyone could be interested in him that way, and Alice's quirkiness mixed with her shyness. The entire series has him wanting together, but basically coming up with [[ScullySyndrome insane explanations for Alice's obvious interest]]. When a rumor goes around that they slept together ([[SleepCute they did]], but not that way), it literally goes through a [[https://manganelo.com/chapter/bx921710/chapter_62 chain of people who first cheer, then mourn this turn of events]].
* Revy and Rock from ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. Lampshaded by Eda in a conversation with Revy. This proves to be a sore subject with [[DarkActionGirl Revy]] as she obviously desires a relationship with [[NonActionGuy Rock]] but seems to have no idea how to broach the subject with him. Also counts as BelligerentSexualTension, seeing as how, you know... [[BloodKnight Revy]] has ''shot'' at Rock on ''several'' different occasions with full intent to kill, and regularly points her gun at him with death threats whenever he [[SlidingScaleofIdealismVersusCynicism gets particularly idealistic]]... [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther only to share a nice little romantic scene together]] [[SlapSlapKiss just moments after she tried to murder him]]. They ''really'' push BelligerentSexualTension to the limit. There’s also plenty of tragic elements to this [[spoiler:since Revy’s previous sexual experiences with men were ''[[RapeAsDrama horrific]]'', so her inability to fully express how she feels for Rock is rooted in a deep seeded trauma regarding the opposite sex and a real fear of being vulnerable again.]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': In the ''[[WholeEpisodeFlashback Everything but the Rain]]'' arc, there's a lot of this between Ryuuken Ishida and [[NinjaMaid Kanae]] [[BodyguardCrush Katagiri]] despite the fact Ryuuken's family want an ArrangedMarriage between him and his cousin [[spoiler:Masaki Kurosaki. When that plan falls through, Ryuuken and Kanae MarryForLove. Kanae's death is [[PlotTriggeringDeath inseparably linked]] to Masaki's death.]]
* After the TimeSkip in ''Manga/BunnyDrop'', Rin and Kouki are in this stage. [[spoiler:In the end, they don't get together, and Rin ultimately ends up with ''Daikichi'' instead.]]
* ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' is chock full of [=UST=] for a bunch of pairings, but particularly Rosette and Chrono. In the manga, Chrono accidentally [[ShowerOfAwkward walks in on Rosette when she's taking a shower]], and in the anime at one point Rosette shakes her rear end in Chrono's face in an attempt to get a favor out of him. In both versions they later become the OfficialCouple.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'':
** The shippers probably went ballistic over the romance of this series: three valid pairings for the male lead alone, and enough done by one side or the other to establish the attraction as canon. The relationship between the two {{Tsundere}}s, Kallen and Lelouch, was especially frustrating because practically all the moments they had were interrupted by a character or an event, that is until [[spoiler: she stole a kiss from him near the end, only to get completely ignored by him, [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim for a good reason]].]]. The other two love interests were [[NaiveEverygirl Shirley]] [[spoiler:who spent most of the series with a crush on Lelouch and then died one episode after [[RelationshipUpgrade Lelouch finally come to actually notice and acknowledge the girl's feelings]]]] and [[SugarAndIcePersonality C.C.]] [[spoiler:who spent most of the series helping Lelouch just so she could pass her curse of immortality onto him in the end and die]]. There was also that fact that [[PlatonicWritingRomanticReading she]] ''[[PlatonicWritingRomanticReading kissed]]'' [[PlatonicWritingRomanticReading him a lot]].\\\
And there's Kaguya, who's certain that the Unresolved Sexual Tension between Zero and his Number Two and Red Queen has been [[MarryThemAll resolved, as it were]]. ("We are Zero's three court ladies~!") She then plots to get in on the action, in-line with her actual romantic aspirations, and suspected dubious sexuality. Too bad she doesn't get that much screentime.
* In Coral Reef Legend: Elfie of the Blue Sea, it is implied that Alcus, Elfie’a foster brother has romantic feeling for her, when she tells him that she’s not really his sister he tells her “that’s a relief” she asks what he means by that but he tells her never mind, he had taken her to an island where they could live together for the rest of their lives and away from the government who wanted to wipe out her and her people, unfortunately she ends up sacrificing herself to save her people leaving him heartbroken, but it prevented a war from escalating.
* ''Manga/CountCain'' fall into this trope easily. Half of the series is Cain kicking some ass the other half is having angsty dialogue with manservant Riff about how they'll accompany each other to hell and other such lovely things. Despite all of this the manga-ka Creator/KaoriYuki claims they weren't a couple in the ''Manga/AngelSanctuary'' art book.
* Spike and Faye from ''Anime/CowboyBebop''. Mostly [[AllLoveIsUnrequited one-sided]], on Faye's part. Spike seems rather hung up on Julia. However, Watanabe once stated in an interview that "Spike may have feelings for Faye, he's just not one to outwardly express them." Considering the type of person Spike is, it makes sense.
* Kirihara from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' had a few potential love interests that never went anywhere. Most of the tension is with the protagonist Hei (despite the fact that she's trying to catch him), who she seems to have developed a crush on in his ObfuscatingStupidity NiceGuy persona, while he mostly doesn't seem to notice. Another is her second-in-command, a man too shy to admit it who later professes his love for her-- unfortunately for him, [[ResetButton both of them lost their memory of the incident afterward]] and it was one-sided. Her interactions with Jack Simon/November 11 could potentially be seen this way as well. [[spoiler:Turns out she's still after Hei two years later, and is in fact approaching StalkerWithACrush and SingleTargetSexuality territory.]] Also, her crush on Hei may not have been completely one-sided; she's one of a grand total of two people he [[TheStoic actually mentioned any of his feelings or opinions to]].
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' gives us [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist L]] and [[LightIsNotGood Light]], who get a considerable amount of FoeRomanceSubtext (especially during their ChainedHeat stage) involving handcuffs, hidden cameras, coffee, a heart-to-heart in the rain, [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike shared internal monologues]], [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments a Misa-instigated circle-dance]], and [[RuleOfSymbolism one really awkward foot massage]], amidst other things. Then after [[spoiler: [[CradlingYourKill L]] [[AntagonistInMourning dies]]]]...
* ''Anime/ErgoProxy'', Vincent and Re-l. The definition of their relationship. Pretty much ''every'' female Vincent comes into contact with, [[{{Squick}} barring Pino of course.]]
* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has this developing between Erza and Jellal, mostly due to Jellal's getting arrested or suffering from a massive GuiltComplex. Even having a moment where they end up LiterallyFallingInLove not getting them together because Jellal stops ''in the middle of a KissingDiscretionShot'', having decided he doesn't deserve her, and attempts to sink their ship by claiming that he's actually gotten a fiancee over the TimeSkip. Erza is aware of the lie, and the two have since been shown looking at each other while the other's back is turned.
* Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye in ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'' combine this with both BodyguardCrush and SubordinateExcuse. It's especially present in the [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga]] and the ''Brotherhood'' anime, which also feature increasing UST between Ed and {{W|renchWench}}inry. The latter UST does eventually get a resolution. The [[PortmanteauCoupleName Royai]] UST is actually acknowledged by Riza in-series and used for [[TrickingTheShapeshifter her own ends]], [[Awesome/FullmetalAlchemist very awesomely.]] {{Word of God}} in the third art book says that [[spoiler:the series ended without them getting married because of the military's anti-fraternization law]]. The ''Chronicles'' book released in autumn 2011 does confirm that [[spoiler:they remain side by side for pretty much the rest of their lives, though whether a RelationshipUpgrade ever happens is still left open for interpretation]].
* In ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', [[{{Tsundere}} Kaname]] and [[TheStoic Sôsuke]] -- namely the anime. At the end of the third season, ''just'' when it looks like they're finally at ''least'' going to hug, they're [[MomentKiller interrupted]]. Also, [[CoolBigSis Mao]] and [[ChivalrousPervert Kurz]] have a ''lot'' of UST [[spoiler:which is eventually resolved in the {{Light Novel}}s]].
* ''Manga/HanaKimi'' has a ''lot'' of this. We've got a [[WholesomeCrossdresser girl disguised]] [[{{Bifauxnen}} as a boy]] rooming with a boy that knows she's a girl but she doesn't know he knows, and they both have crushes on each other. And then another boy has a crush on her, but doesn't know she's a girl. ''Tons'' of WillTheyOrWontThey. Plus, taking place at an all-boys BoardingSchool, there's a ton of HoYay between male side characters.
* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' series features this between Mikuru and Kyon, although this tends to [[DieForOurShip depend on your camp]] and [[WMG/HaruhiSuzumiya which theories you may subscribe to]]. Unfortunately for them, [[RealityWarper Haruhi]] isn't about to allow that come hell or high water due to her own UST with him (as exemplified by [[spoiler:how Kyon saved the world from being remade by stealing a kiss from Haruhi, and the ending of Someday in the Rain]]), and on top of that it's also forbidden for Mikuru by {{time travel}}ler-rules. Her [[spoiler:future self tells him she's glad to see him again, which strongly implies that nothing ever came of it.]] If you believe UnreliableNarrator Kyon, [[spoiler:he doesn't take future Mikuru's suggestion that he kiss her younger self while she's asleep.]] But considering that he's likely to get written out of existence if he upsets Haruhi, he's got ample reason to not tell anyone if he did.
* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''. It's probably the second place for the story's existence. Between Nagi and Hinagiku you could probably drown standing up, and then there's four other girls after Hayate. And that's ''before'' you look at Wataru.
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'':
** Alucard and Integra. It's especially apparent in the manga, where she acts like a {{Tsundere}} towards him and he tells her that her resolve and will for battle "[[InLoveWithYourCarnage excite]]" him.
** Also, Pip and Seras, [[spoiler:at least in the beginning.]]
* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'':
** [[WillTheyOrWontThey Italy and Germany...]] [[ShipTease So much]] [[OfficialCouple Italy and Germany]].
** In one episode, America and England are arguing and France actually says (in the English dub) "When you two are done relieving sexual tensions, we have a meeting we need to finish!"
** The movie, ''Hetalia: Paint it, White'' has plenty of UST for France and England. It's almost as if [[WriterOnBoard someone was pushing it]].
** Then there's Switzerland when he bumps into Austria at the grocery store and a painfully awkward lunch follows...
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'' has copious amounts between [[{{Meganekko}} Saya]] and [[{{Otaku}} Hirano.]]
** Saya's even dreamt about Hirano banging her, during which, her thought bubble [[{{visual innuendo}} dipped between her legs and wiggled]]; causing her to [[LuminescentBlush blush]] and moan. And in the ''[[BeachEpisode "Drifters of the Dead"]]'' OVA, he wound up humping a broomstick [[MushroomSamba while hallucinating]] it was her.
** The anime plays up the UST between Takashi and Saeko, by [[DidTheyOrDidntThey implying they may have had sex]] during episode 9. There's a {{kissing discretion shot}}, then it {{fades to black}}. The next morning, Saeko appears to be either adjusting her skirt, or her underwear, as she exits the temple behind Takashi. And during the OVA, he hallucinates about having sex with her (again).
* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'':
** Sango and Miroku. The UST is so obvious that their grope-slap exchange becomes a running gag throughout the series.
** Inu-Yasha and Kagome have this in spades, although it often manifests as BelligerentSexualTension. This is even parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' episode. Where the dad of the girl who was watching the series got really into it. When his daughter told him each episode only comes on every week, he states, "I'm not going to wait another week to see if Inu-Yasha and Kagome get together!" So he caught onto this after only watching a single half-hour episode.
* ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'' is ''made'' of this trope; mostly between [[TwiceShy Sawako and Kazehaya]] and especially in early chapters. The side couples have their moments, too, though.
* ''Manga/MaidenRose'' begins right after the OfficialCouple have just resolved their sexual tension, and then immediately skips six months ahead where UST reappears in full force, especially after Klaus swears to never touch Taki again, thinking that's what Taki wants. It leads to things like 40-panel-long hugs.
* ''Literature/MariaWatchesOverUs'' introduces massive amounts of UnresolvedSexualTension between students at an all-girl high school.
* The ''Mazinger'' series:
** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Kouji and Sayaka were the couple that ''defined'' BelligerentSexualTension. In spite of being attracted to each other, fierce competitiveness and pride issues on both sides prevent them from reaching an understanding and being together. It was not so bad in the original manga, though. And in another manga version, they kissed when they thought Kouji was going to die. He survived, but Kouji avoided Sayaka for a while because he was still too afraid and insecure.
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': Tetsuya and Jun. You would think the issue of them being adoptive siblings would be the main issue, but it is not. Tetsuya is an ObliviousToLove IdiotHero FULL of issues -he is the {{Trope Maker|s}} for BrokenAce, JerkassWoobie and InferioritySuperiorityComplex in HumongousMecha anime-, and he is obsessed with piloting Great Mazinger and fighting the Mykene Empire because he thinks if he does not, his life will be worthless and his adoptive father will love him no longer. Hence, he is unable to notice Jun's ''very'' obvious advances and flirting. And Jun is a {{Tsundere}} with plenty issues herself and little tolerance for oblivious fools. So they keep their BelligerentSexualTension throughout the entire series.
* ''Manga/MyWifeIsTheStudentCouncilPresident'': Izumi and Ui are a pair of horny teens, who live together without adult supervision. The only reason they haven't torn each other's clothes off and fucked like rabbits, is because their friends and neighbors [[RunningGag keep]] [[MomentKiller interfering]] before it can happen.
* ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'': Naruto has this with his future wife [[OneTrueLove Hinata]], beginning in the [[WarArc Fourth Shinobi World War Arc]] and continuing on into the {{canon}} movie ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie''. Judging by the dialogue from the other characters, such as [[ShipperOnDeck Kiba and Sakura]], this has actually been going on for much longer than that -- and as confirmed in ''The Last'', where Naruto specifically remembers [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Hinata giving him her ointment]] in Chapter 77, this has been going on since the Chunin Exams arc in Part I. If one were to [[RewatchBonus read/watch the entire series all over again]], there ''are'' hints of this lingering throughout the entire narrative, pushed to the background as camaraderie and friendship were in the forefront. Naruto's NoSocialSkills and ObliviousToLove statuses meant he never realized that a lot of his interactions with Hinata ''did'' have underlying romantic tension, primarily because he's never understood [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove romantic love]] due to his emotionally-stunted and lonely childhood and not having anyone to teach him the differences between TheFourLoves.
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
** [[IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn A more one-sided example]] is that of Setsuna toward Konoka. This gets turned up to [[MemeticMutation nine thousand]] for the Spring and Summer anime specials. [[spoiler:It started to resolve from chapter 252 with an epic Pactio. Doesn't seem to be one-sided, either (Konoka was the aggressive one during the kiss).]]
** Negi has some form of this with most of the primary female cast members.
** There's also a good chunk of this between [[BetaCouple Kotarô and Natsumi]].
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is chock full of this (mainly between Shinji and Asuka and between Misato and Kaji). Of course, [[MindScrew it doesn't really]] [[GainaxEnding go anywhere]]. Okay, Misato and Kaji's was resolved (and then they got screwed. Figures).
** Lampshaded in Hikari and Toji's case. Shinji is commenting to Asuka how Hikari asked him a lot of stuff about Toji while tending to him after an accident.
--->'''Shinji''': That's weird, you know. She's always so hostile to him.\\
''(Beat)''\\
'''Asuka''': [[CatchPhrase What are you, stupid?]] [[IResembleThatRemark That's because she likes him]].
* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': [[OldMaid Ayaka]] [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Kisaragi]] has plenty with [[OccultDetective Detective]] [[PermaStubble Karino]], though she's stubborn and plays hard to get. She isn't above flirting with him and he certainly doesn't mind the attention. The series ends, leaving [[WillTheyOrWontThey the status of their relationship]] [[MaybeEverAfter up in the air.]]
* Orcelito and Kiliko of ''Manga/PlusSi +C''. There's just no other way to describe it.
* ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'':
** Winona and Wallace had a falling out in the past. Wallace is very much still interested in continuing the relationship, even going so far as turning down the Champion position to be a Gym Leader as to spend more time with her. Winona, on the other hand, despite the many hints that she ''does'' still love him, has insecurity issues about having a stronger boyfriend. The last we see of the two ends with Winona musing about why their relationship failed the first time.
** Sapphire and Ruby aren't much better. Which becomes interesting when you think about who their mentors are. (Hint, look up.)
* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', once [[spoiler:Fakir]] finds out about Ahiru's secret there starts to be a ''lot'' of [=UST=] between the two, normally centered around [[spoiler:Fakir]] accidentally being around when Ahiru turns from a duck into a (naked) girl. It doesn't help that another character repeatedly forces her to change in front of him on purpose.
* It gets so bad between Haru and Elie in ''Manga/RaveMaster'' that Lucia, the main villain who spends less than an hour's time total with them over the course of the entire series, is able to instantly spot it and claim they'll be old and grey by the time they get around to holding hands.
* ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' also has a lot of this, essentially the upshot of every single girl in the class being in love with the teacher. He is almost pathologically resistant to their affections (ethical concerns aside), but is painfully aware of the UST, which is why he has stopped resisting Tsunetsuki's stalking as doing so only spurs her to more extreme behavior. The class exists in a kind of equilibrium where the UST never quite boils over, at least until somebody or something kicks over the anthill, such as Nozomu's arranged marriage in season 1, his flirtatious body-double in Zan, and an out-of-left-field love-confession from a random student in the same season.
* When you really think about it, ''Manga/SoulEater'' seems to be leaning toward this, despite WordOfGod saying that most of the relationships were going to remain platonic.
** Tsubaki proves to be [[spoiler:the horniest member]] of the TrueCompanions, which is explained when Black☆Star admits that they [[spoiler:[[NotWhatItLooksLike sleep together in the same room]]]].
** Soul constantly uses Maka's [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial lack of sex appeal]] as the reason for everything from why they don't get along earlier on in the manga to why no one has requested her as a partner in the later chapters. The chapter of Lust, however, would suggest he's lying. Maka also complains that he doesn't refer to her as being like an angel, despite Ox referring to Kim the same way. Doesn't quite work out when you consider the fact that Ox and Kim are ''[[OfficialCouple boyfriend and girlfriend]]'', not partners. Soul does eventually give in and call her an angel during their fight with [[{{Yandere}} Gopher]], although [[TheLancer he]] might just be being [[SarcasmMode sarcastic]].
* Akira and Fumi from ''Manga/SweetBlueFlowers'' enter such a phase in the manga, after [[spoiler:Fumi confesses to a hapless Akira]]. It ends in [[spoiler:them becoming a couple]].
* ''Manga/ToLoveRu'':
** Rito is practically made of this trope, towards Lala and Haruna especially. He'd had a crush on Haruna that was at least a year old by the start of the story, and all of there interaction is chock full of UST. It's little better with Lala, who he refuses to admit to even the possibility for 100 chapters.
** Let's not even get started on the UST [[HaremGenre the girls]] have towards him either, which include one girl sneaking into his bed and another freaking out over sending him a text message. In fact it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to declare ''To Love-Ru'' one big pile of UST.
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', relationships where the tension is resolved seem to be as rare as unicorn tears.
** Kaneki has a whole UnwantedHarem that he seems incapable of reaching resolution with, most notably Touka and Tsukiyama. Both end up having a discussion about whether or not Kaneki is better off without them in his life, while admitting they understand how the other feels about ''not'' having Kaneki in their lives. For his part, Kaneki awkwardly goes through cycles of keeping the people important to him at a distance and otherwise avoiding admitting how much he actually cares about them. [[spoiler: Finally, ''Finally'' subverted with Touka. In chapter 122 of ''Re'', Touka [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments point-blank asks if he's a virgin]], leading to a long conversation and eventually ends with them [[TheirFirstTime consummating their relationship]]. Few chapters later, they're married and have a child on the way.]]
** The complicated mess that is [[LoveTriangle Akira, Amon, and Takizawa]]. She initially seems to dislike them both, with Amon awkwardly trying to gain her approval while Takizawa is her old school [[TheRival rival]] that complains loudly to his ShipperOnDeck mother. By the time the original series comes to a conclusion, Amon has rejected Akira's advances in a moment of guilt/panic, Takizawa has suffered a BelatedLoveEpiphany, and Akira only admits her true feelings during an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove. The sequel continues this trend, with a tangled mess of resentment and affection leading them all to alternately try to kill or save each other.
** Urie and Mutsuki begin to slip into this, primarily from the former's side. Once the two begin to become close, Urie seems to cycle through internal screaming of what he ''wants'' to say to Mutsuki but is unable to voice. This leads him to mentally ramble about making sandwiches, how nice Mutsuki's various coats are, how Mutsuki should take a vacation, how he wants to throw Mutsuki a party, and occasionally even blurting out random things. Neither one of them outwardly acts like the other is anything but a comrade, leading to awkward moments between them.
* ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'': Lori & Coby, [[ToyShip despite being 12 and 13 respectively]], have enough UST to sink [[InconsistentDub Shockwave]]/Tidal Wave. Finally resolved in the distant finale where they are shown to have gotten married.
* There's so much tension between [[MindGameShip Battler and Beato]] in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' that it's not even funny. [[spoiler:It's confirmed canon in the fifth and sixth arcs.]]
* ''Manga/{{Vassalord}}'' IS this trope. Except it kind of gets resolved. Kind of. But not really as Charley and Johnny still haven't done it despite obviously WANTING to. Charley walks in on Johnny showering without a problem.
* ''Manga/WhisperedWords'': There is truckloads of this between Ushio and Sumika from, to the point that it's become somewhat famous for it, which is why the image for the main page features the two. No other series will have you screaming at the characters to "Just get together, already" as much as this series.
* Daisuke Moriyama's ''Manga/WorldEmbryo'', repeats ''Chrono Crusade'''s structure. Amane × Riku was interrupted by Amane's death. So now we have Rena × Riku (lampshaded massively due to them being "Mom" and "Dad" to Nene, potential kiss interrupted by [[MomentKiller Nene]]), [[{{Squick}} Riku × Nene]], Yui × Riku (averted), [[spoiler: Yui × Takao (averted by death)]], Hayato × Suzu (come on, she helps him with going to the toilet and bathing...), Kota × Mizaki, etc.
* This began to emerge between ''Manga/{{xxxHOLiC}}'' protagonist Kimihiro Watanuki and his employer Yuuko Ichihara in the last few volumes leading up to [[spoiler: Yuuko's death and disappearance]], and stayed for the remainder of the series, at least on Watanuki's end. Aside from the big aforementioned [[DeadAllAlong complication]], there's the issue that Yuuko tends to keep her feelings distant because the nature of what she sells means it isn't wise for her to allow herself to become too emotionally invested in others. Then there's the fact she also has played something of a motherly-mentor role to Watanuki and is [[Really700YearsOld quite a few years older than him.]]
** Though Watanuki later also [[spoiler:ceases to age when he succeeds her, so at least that fact in particular would stop mattering so much.]]
* An especially bad case in ''Anime/YuGiOh''. In the manga, there was a good deal of this between Anzu and Yami Yugi, with a love tester implying they were more compatible than Anzu and Yugi and him saving her from danger several times. She later said that Yugi is Yugi, and is fine just how he is. However, this triangle mostly disappeared when Yami Yugi begins to become more of a separate identity, with Yugi referring to him having his own feelings and identity. Anzu shows concern when Yami Yugi gets hurt and worries about the effect regaining his memories will have, but her main source of conflict is that she assumed that the real Yugi was a fusion of both counterparts. Yugi never confesses his obvious crush, Yami has little page time solely with Anzu, and Anzu herself bottles her attempt to tell Yami her feelings before the Ceremonial Duel starts.
** Also happens with Mai and Joey, and is made worse in the anime when she returns for a filler arc but drives off without confronting him, having turned against Joey specifically prior to this moment.
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